It will be all about the seeds.
The Ladner Community Garden presents the seventh annual Seedy Saturday and Garden Expo on Saturday, March 2 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at All Saints Anglican Church. Admission is by donation.
Featuring seeds and plants, a seed swap, garden vendors and presentations, the event marks the start of the garden and planting season in South Delta.
“The Ladner Community Garden has hosted this event since its inception,” said organizer and Delta Optimist garden blogger Kristin Crouch. “What we do is we use a lot of the money raised to go back into the garden, but also it helps grow the various crops that we grow for community groups. We have six plots for the food bank and other charities. We have been growing a lot of food lately for the community dinner at the church, so we love partnering with the church on that initiative.”
Established in 2011, the Ladner Community Garden is located off Holly Park Drive behind Harris Nursery.
“We have about 70 beds. Some are rented out to community groups and we have a communal herb garden there as well,” she said. “We do a lot of community tours through the garden, so it has become a real community hub.”
There will also be two guest speakers at Seedy Saturday. Amanda Jarrett will speak at 10:30 a.m. on container veggies while Crouch will give a presentation on herbs made easy at 1 p.m.
“We like to focus on seeds, of course, so Amanda’s presentation will be really hands-on. It’s popular because many people don’t have a large yard anymore,” said Crouch. “A lot of people are growing food in containers. I’ll be speaking about herbs and how important it is to attract pollinators to the garden.”
She said there is a hall in the church that will be set aside for vendors selling plants, seeds and all sorts of different garden-related products. There will also be a seed swap, which has been growing over the years.
“Our whole mission is to try and preserve a lot of heirloom seeds, so we want to encourage people to bring in some seeds that maybe they don’t like or they want to swap with others and trade with someone else they might like to try this year. Last year the seed swap was so popular we ran out of seeds.”
Crouch said she supplies a lot of the seeds for the event from her own garden.
“It’s a fun day and it kicks off the garden season, especially after all the snow,” she said. “It’s also nice to have the event located right in the historic downtown area because it’s close to all the shops as well.”
For more details see: www.ladnercommunitygarden.blogspot.com.
